Roblox Emerges as a Top Online Entertainment Platform for Kids and Teens in 2017

March

21, 2018

A comScore analysis for December 2017 places Roblox as one of the top online entertainment platforms for audiences under the age of 18 based on average monthly visits and time spent.

SAN MATEO, Calif. – March 21, 2018 – comScore, in partnership with Roblox, released data from December 2017 that measured how kids and teens spent time online. The data shows that Roblox has emerged as a top online entertainment platform for both kids and teens. In addition, the company announced the hiring of Mike Guthrie as Chief Financial Officer.

“We saw tremendous growth in 2017. comScore’s analysis lets us see how our user growth positions us relative to other top online entertainment properties,” said David Baszucki, founder and CEO of Roblox. “The results show a shift in interest among young adults from passive, linear media towards more immersive, interactive experiences.”

For time spent in December, Roblox tops the list for kids (under 13) with 51.5M hours, followed by YouTube (19.4M hours) and Netflix (3.4M hours). Roblox came in second for teens (13-17) with 32.5M hours, behind YouTube (59.4M hours).

With respect to average monthly visits in December, Roblox tops the list for kids with 25.5 visits per month, followed by YouTube (7.9) and Pandora (6.6). Roblox also tops the list for teens with 26.9 visits per month, followed by YouTube (14.7) and Pandora (11.1).

“Kids crave and need self-directed play–play is how they learn to take initiative, be creative, solve problems, and collaborate with peers,” said Peter Gray, research professor of psychology and author of Free to Learn. “In past decades, children could satisfy their play needs by running freely with friends in the neighborhood, but today their time is filled with schoolwork and adult-structured after-school activities. Providing opportunities for self-directed, creative, social play online is a valuable means of helping our children develop the skills they need for success in today’s world.”

For audiences under 18, comScore only tracks use on the desktop and therefore under-reports total online usage. In fact, over half of Roblox’s usage is on mobile devices and Roblox is consistently a top downloaded app on Android and iOS devices.

Roblox also announced the hiring of Mike Guthrie as Chief Financial Officer. In his role with the company, Guthrie will lead all finance, accounting, and business operations efforts. Prior to joining Roblox, Guthrie was CFO of TrueCar, Inc. where he led the company through multiple rounds of private financing and spearheaded the company’s initial public offering in 2014. Roblox also gave details related to its financial health sharing that it generated hundreds of millions in 2017 billings, an increase of more than 150% year over year, and is cash-flow positive.

“I am very excited to be joining Roblox at this time of hyper growth,” said Guthrie. “2017 was a pivotal year for the company and I am confident we will continue to deliver strong financial metrics as the Roblox platform continues to scale.”

ABOUT ROBLOX

Roblox’s Imagination Platform is ushering in the next generation of entertainment, enabling kids of all ages to imagine, create, and play together in immersive 3D worlds. comScore ranks Roblox as one of the top online entertainment platforms for audiences under the age of 18 based on average monthly visits and time spent. In addition, Roblox has been named one of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies on the Inc. 5000 for the past two consecutive years. Roblox is freely available on all modern smartphones, tablets, computers, Xbox One, Oculus Rift, and HTC Vive. For more information, please visithttps://corp.roblox.com/.